Alice Dere
by ReyScarlet
Summary: Love is a confusing emotion. Based off the song, will remain to be T. For now.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: What is it that I feel?

The day had been going relatively the same for Margatroid Alice. With the exception of the surprise letter from her mother, she had kept up the same routine that she had been doing for the past three years, eight months, two weeks, and one day. The letter had been a standard, asking about her well-being, and if she had any _interests_. And her reply would be the same. "The past [X] months have been good Mother. I've been feeling well, and Hourai and Shanghai want to visit you. And no, I don't have any _interests_."

Then came the surprise knock on her door, followed by it being opened. "Oui, Alice, you here?"

"In the study," she said, getting up to greet her guest. Kirisame Marisa walked into the study, ridiculous grin shining from underneath a sheath of messed up hair. "Marisa, you look like you fought Aya. Again."

"Flew here in a hurry, daze. Guess who got invited to a birthday party!?"

"You?"

"Both of us, daze. Come on, it's for that green-eyed friend of Yuugi's!"

"And what time is it scheduled for?" Marisa looked up at the ceiling, "Ummm, seven-thirty?"

"Marisa. It's four."

"So?"

Alice sighed, palming her face, "Why on Earth, the Moon, or in bloody Makai would we go to a party _three and a half hours_ in the future instead of wait!?" Sometimes, her best friend irritated her beyond belief. Wait, scratch that, Marisa irritated her almost _all_ the time.

"Oh, right." Marisa went to the living room, with Alice following, before flopping on the couch. "I guess you can entertain me."

"And why should I?"

"Cuz you love me, daze!" The false statement infuriated her, but left her feeling weird. So, for the next three and a half hours, Alice took a break from her schedule and talked. Marisa droned on about her latest escapades, what had been happening at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and other such things.

Eventually, the time to depart rolled around. "Godsdamn, you take forever, daze." Alice had been setting her dolls on guard duty when she left, something which was a little time consuming, though not as much as Marisa complained it to be.

"Yeah, well Cirno and her idiot squad had been nosing around a week ago, and for having such small brains, they are tenacious little things." Taking to the air, Alice wondered if this party would actually be worth her while.

…

"So, that was interesting daze." Marisa was lying back on her broom, flying blind. Alice soared next to her, "That's an understatement."

"They'd make a cute couple." Alice gave her friend a little look, but didn't remark. She had actually been thinking the same thing. Her mind drifted back to what Satori had said, about how a human could become a Youkai. It left her hollow, something that the bitter cold air whipping bye didn't help with.

"Wanna touchdown and walk the rest of the way?" Marisa had cracked her eye open, noting Alice's shivers. "Sure." They descended to the ground, on the outskirts of the Forest of Magic. IT was better than flying, but the air still had Alice's teeth chattering. She glanced at Marisa's scarf, feeling envious. And weird.

"So, I really like how Mizuhashi's place ended up looking after everything had been said and done," Marisa said, tromping ahead of her. Alice grunted an agreement, blowing on her hands and rubbing them together.

Marisa noticed. Unknown to Alice, or anyone in fact, she had feelings for the blonde doll maker. Now, that didn't mean fake, "let's-be-friends-with-benefits" feelings. So, when Marisa noted how cold her friend was, she decided to make a move.

"Hey, want to go to my place and warm up?" The question caught Alice off guard. "Why?" The question itself didn't irritate her, but she just wanted to go back to her house and sleep. She most certainly didn't want to spend the night at the messy abode of the Ordinary Magician.

"Well, you look cold. My place is closer, and probably warmer." 'Please say yes,' Marisa thought. Normally, she wouldn't try for subtle. But this wasn't Reimu, Alice was a whole different _species_ than the Miko.

A funny feeling had crept into the corners of Alice's mind. It was a new feeling, that's for sure. But it was similar to another, less pleasant but more familiar emotion. "I-I'm good." 'What's with the voice-crack?' she scolded herself.

'Well, here goes nothing.' "Come on, you won't regret it." Marisa grabbed her friend's hand, bent on dragging the girl to her house if she had to now.

'Well, maybe for a couple minutes, I gu-' Her thought was cut off as something strange happened. A new thought, all encompassing filled her mind. An emotion. "No Marisa, I'm good."

"Yeah, well I'm not taking no for an answer," Marisa replied back playfully. "Marisa I mean it, let go." "Nope."

"Let go!" She tugged her arm, trying to get out of the witch's grip. " " 'What does that even mean?!'

Something snapped inside her. A thought that was strangely alien, but hers none the less. "Marisa!" she snapped her hand out of the other's grasp.

"**I hate you!**"

It almost felt like someone else was saying those words. Alice watched as Marisa's face betrayed emotions. Playfulness. Realization and Shock. Confusion. Acceptance. Sadness. Blank. The Magician pulled her hat down and scarf up. "Good bye Alice."

Marisa passed the doll maker, a hollow feeling within her. She took off into the air, not noticing the being watching them.

Alice watched as her friend passed her. Well, not her friend anymore. 'Did I really say that? Do I mean it?' She guessed she must. She walked off into the dark forest, not quite sure what she felt.

~So, how is it? I'll actually be writing now, got everything nice and fixed up. AlicexMarisa is my favorite pairing of all time, and so I love and hate the song that this will be based off of. This takes place around another one of my fics, Negative Love, in case anyone is confused about the birthday thing. Does this feel rushed? Or is it me? And that being? Well, more about it later on. How is it?

And so we go!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Did I Really Feel That? Do I Still?

_"You've fallen into my trap!" Several bullets of Danmaku surrounded Alice, creating a maze that blurred and reshaped, making it impossible to escape. Reisen floated off to the side, an insane smile shining on her face. It appeared to be curtains for her._

_Or not. "Magicanon: Final Spark!" A beam of energy, pure white in color, blasted past Alice. It ate everything in its path, slamming into the lunatic Rabbit and sending her careening into a crash land._

_"Thanks." Marisa floated into view, before taking off down the hall. "Come on, daze!"_

_The doctor stood before them, only to be batted aside by their powers. They came up against the final enemy, Houraisen Kaguya, who claimed to be immortal._

_"Last Word: Blazing Star!"_

_"Last Word: The Phantom of the Grand Guignol!"_

…

Hourai puttered along, cleaning. She didn't mind cleaning, when Alice wanted her to do it, she would, but she was a little down today. It was because Alice was. The doll maker had been sulking for the past week or so, which caused the normal cheery dolls to sulk as well.

Hourai moved to the desk. The bag of pills that Doctor Yagokoro had prescribed for her master was there. Apparently she had a deficiency of a certain vitamin or mineral or something. And something else…

A doll of Marisa. Hourai stared at it. She hadn't been with Alice when the two friends had parted ways, been Shanghai had, and the details left something nagging on Hourai's mind. From the way Alice was acting, it didn't really seem that she hated Ms. Kirisame, yet she said she did. Grabbing some puppeteer equipment, Hourai began to work.

…

Alice woke up to Hourai's voice. She had been dreaming of the Imperishable Night incident, when Marisa, Reimu, Yukari, Youmu, and some others fixed a problem regarding the Harvest Moon.

"Every day, I'm walking on air, float float! I've found something to look forward to, anticipation!"

"What is that little-" Alice entered the study, to see Hourai playing with puppets. Two _specific_ puppets, in fact.

"Why, hello there Ms. Kirisame! Hi there Ms. Margatroid! How are you toda-ERK!" Hourai noticed her master standing in the doorway, a not amused expression on her face. "Hourai."

"H-hi…" Alice walked over and took away (snatched) the puppeteer handles away. "And what, pray tell, do you think you were doing?"

"Acting out what you should do next…"

"Oh?" Alice knew that Hourai was younger, though more powerful, than her sister, and thus more naïve. "I think that's not what I'll do next. I'm off to the Mansion. You're welcome to come along, I'm taking your bigger sister, so it's only fair."

As Alice left, Hourai felt a little annoyance. 'Just do the simple thing and talk to her!'

…

"MARISA!" Shameimaru Aya burst into the cluttered home, waving a video camera (a gift from Nitori) around in the air. "I HAVE SOME NEWS!"

"What?" The tone wasn't supposed to be venomous, but since the normally energetic Magician was depressed-ish, it was understandable. "Here, watch this. I was at you-know-who's house, and by looking at the non-verbals, you can tell she totally wants you!"

"Oh really?"

"YEAH! And, there's this great place where, with some tweaking here and tweaking there, you can totally get at least a 'Here-me-out-please' talk!"

A fire lit in Marisa, as the Tengu's crazy-stupid plan seemed like one to go along with. "Fine, okay. Just, don't screw anything up, please!"

"Can do! Wolfy can do the job, and you and your wifu will be together faster than, well, me!"

Marisa groaned. She didn't have high hopes for this plan suddenly.

…

Alice walked into the Mansion's gardens. Patchouli had wanted to talk to her, but according to China, that person had now become Sakuya. She entered the foyer, to see the head maid along with Inubashiri Momiji.

"Alice!" Sakuya gestured to her, and she came closer. "Mmmm? Yes?"

"We have a surprise for you!" This came from Momiji, who held a piece of paper, advertising the 'Beautiful Salt Bluffs'! "We heard how sad you had been, so we decided to give you this flyer! I suggest going there at sunset, a perfectly _cheery _sight!"

"Uhhh… Okay?" Alice took the flyer, looking at the picture. It did look pretty. "Thanks I guess. Sakuya, what was it that you and Patchouli wanted?"

"I just wanted to show you this. Lady Knowledge is in the Library garden."

Alice proceeded to walk into the gardens, head a little mucked. The sight of a short ,pale Youkai with three eyes sitting next to the Magician who wanted to talk to her surprised her.

"Hello Alice."

~Melodramatic. Meh. Still, how am I doing? I have two, maybe three more chapters planned before the reconciliation, and the fluff galore! This is literally following the scenes from the song's video, with a few (a lot) deviations.

And so we go!


End file.
